KBACH's First Take

Cellist Camille Thomas was personally invited by Philip Glass to play his two cello concertos ahead of the pioneering American composer's ninetieth birthday this season. A new album includes the concertos with the Brussels Philharmonic alongside arrangements of Glass's piano music. Michael Keelan talked with Thomas.Find more details at Deutsche Grammophon.

Anna Besson teaches flute at the Brussels and Amsterdam conservatories. Her new album with her ensemble A Nocte Temporis contains all the Mozart flute quartets along with Hoffmeister's arrangement of Mozart's piano sonata, K.311 for the same instrumentation. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with Besson about playing historical flutes. More information is at Alpha Classics.

Connor Chee is a Diné (Navajo) composer and pianist who plays his own music on a new album, "Sandpaintings." The title refers to a form of Native art with healing properties, rich in symbolism and cultural references. The music reflects those visual representations in a carefully designed cycle. KBACH’s Michael Keelan talked with Chee. See more at Wild Saguaro Records.

Béla Bartók composed 44 short duos for two violins, initially for use in an educational method. Their musical rigor makes them suitable for concert performance, and a new recording with violinist Alexandra Preucil and violist Antoine Tamestit intersperses the duos with the original field recordings of the folk source material made by Bartók over a century ago. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with both players. More information is at Harmonia Mundi.

Arthur Sullivan is famous for the comic operettas he wrote with wordsmith William S. Gilbert. A new debut album from tenor David Webb features many excerpts from GS, as they’re known, but also a few of Sullivan’s more serious efforts. The Academy of Ancient Music lends a distinctly Victorian tint to the instrumental accompaniment. KBACH’s Michael Keelan talked with Webb.More info is at Resonus Classics.

Cincinnati-based composer Rick Sowash has released a new album of his music for clarinet and piano on his RSP Classics label. The release, Full Circle, features clarinetist Christopher Bade with KBACH's Greg Kostraba at the piano.Greg talked with Sowash about his varied career, his love of writing for the clarinet, and the music on the new release.The album is available through Kickshaw Records.

The Apollo Chamber Players consistently explore contemporary American culture on their albums. We the People features recent commissions often with texts reflective of aspects of democracy and the experience of ethnically diverse groups in the US. The wide variety of textures includes narrator, electric violin, a student choir, and soloists. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with ensemble founder Matthew Detrick.

The combination of clarinet, viola, and piano was established by Mozart in his "Kegelstatt" Trio, K.498. A new recording of that masterpiece with clarinetist Luigi Magistrelli also has three other pieces by composers following in Mozart's footsteps after his lifetime. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with Magistrelli about the album and his large instrument collection.See album details at Brilliant Classics.

Susan Graham is one of America’s most recognized mezzo-sopranos. Her first recording of Samuel Barber’s opera Vanessa was in the role of Erika and a new recording features her as the Baroness. From July 18 to August 19 Graham appears in Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin at Santa Fe Opera. KBACH’s Michael Keelan talked with her about the roles and the special significance of Santa Fe.

In his third installment of Mendelssohn's solo piano music, Peter Donohoe turns to the seldom-heard sonatas and some of the more virtuosic short works. KBACH's Michael Keelan talked with him about Mendelssohn's relationship with other composers like Beethoven and Liszt.More details at the Chandos website.